The U.S. Military’s Real Foe: The Tyranny of Distance
By
Patrick Hulme and Erik Gartzke
Published
15 mins ago
Tyranny of Distance
ARABIAN SEA (Jan. 17, 2021) A Sailor directs an F/A-18E Super Hornet from the “Kestrels†of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 137 on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) during flight operations. Nimitz, the flagship of Nimitz Carrier Strike Group, is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations to ensure maritime stability and security in the Central Region, connecting the Mediterranean and Pacific through the western Indian Ocean and three critical chokepoints to the free flow of global commerce. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Charles DeParlier) 210117-N-JX182-1128.
When it comes to war, America is almost always playing an “away game.†The conflicts the nation has recently fought, and the defense activities it engages in, are in distant places. There is little reason to suspect this tendency will change anytime soon. Afghanistan and Iraq are both nearly on the opposite side of the globe from the continental United States, and much of the War on Terror over the past two decades has been conducted thousands of miles from U.S. shores. The nations that the 2017 National Security Strategy lists as being of particular concern—China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea—are not only themselves quite far from the United States, but the most likely areas of conflict stemming from these threats—the East and South China Seas, Eastern Europe, the Persian Gulf, and the Korean Peninsula, respectively—are likewise proximate to the potential adversary and quite far from North America.
https://www.19fortyfive.com/2021/01/the-u-s-militarys-real-foe-the-tyranny-of-distance/
